AdBlock Raising Money For Ad Campaign. Wait, What?

Depending on who you ask, ad-blocking browser extensions are either the only thing that makes the Internet tolerable, or instruments of evil that are strangling digital media to death. (Or maybe both.) The maker of extension AdBlock counters that the real problem is that not enough people know that they can banish ads from their browsers. So they’re raising money through crowdfunding to get the word out. Through ads.

A traditional ad buy on online ad networks is just where they plan to start. The campaign has now raised enough money to buy a billboard in New York’s Times Square, and other goals include buying space in the print New York Times and a TV commercial during the Super Bowl. Of course, both of those are ads that can’t be blocked, which is what makes them so appealing. And pricey.

AdBlock is not to be confused with AdBlock Plus, a different browser extension and a different company entirely.